This cartoon is apparently only the second time
that the symbol of an elephant was associated with the Republican party. The
first was in a Republican campaign paper, Father Abraham, in 1864. In this
case, it symbolizes the breakaway Liberal Republican party, which presidential
nominee Horace Greeley insists is "a real elephant." The cartoon
appeared (July 17) about a week after the Democratic convention had also
nominated Greeley for president. It shows that the Liberal Republican Elephant
is actually a fraud consisting of Democratic elements: States Rights, the Ku
Klux Klan, and Tammany Hall, all covered by the Confederate flag. The birds of
prey in the background sky reveal that the Democratic goal in nominating Greeley
is the power and patronage of political office.